Oh No! Oil Spills
Category:Developed for second grade Oh No! Oil Spills Student worthiness *New and untested Primary biological content area covered *How oil spills affect the environment *What it might feel like to be an animal in an oil spill Materials *Cake Pans-approximately 20 cm x 20 cm *Pea-size Gravel *Water *Clear Plastic Cups(about two per student) *Eyedropper *Plastic Spoon *Pipe Cleaners *Feathers *Plastic Wrap *Cotton Balls *Piece of Nylon Stocking *Wood Chips *Paper Towels *Olive Oil *Straws *Dawn Dish Detergent *Chocolate Syrup *Corn Syrup *Vegetable Oil *Crisco Handouts If there are simple written instructions that students would use during this activity they should be placed here and they can be cut and pasted into a word processing document for printing. If there are mechanisms within this web format to upload more complex documents with diagrams, we will learn as we go. Description of activity Students will create shoreline habitats and investigate the affect of oil spills on the environment. Lesson plan # Talk with the students about oil spills. Tell the students about oil spills and how they happen. Explain that they are going to create a shoreline habitat and an oil spill simulation. They will then attempt to clean up the simulated spill that occurred at a local river, lake or ocean beach. Ask the students what they think the effects of an oil spill would be on the surrounding environment. #Take the alotted amount of gravel and place it on one side of the cake pan. The gravel will represent a river bank or shoreline. Pour water into the pan to simulate a body of water. #Make animals using the pipe cleaners and feathers. Lay them on the gravel next to the water. #Tell the students that the gravel represents a shore line of a body of water. Ask them to predict what they think will happen to the habitat and surrounding environment in the event of an oil spill. #Pour some olive oil on the simulated body of water. Have one student blow the oil toward the gravel to simulate water movement. #Now the students should attempt to clean up the oil spill on the shore using cotton balls, paper towels, eyedroppers or plastic spoons, plastic wrap, nylon stocking, and wood chips. The students should try using all of the materials provided to see which works the best. As they are cleaning up the "oil spill" have the students deposit any oil and water that they have removed from the habitat into a plastic cup. #Fill large plastic containers ahead of time with different substances(oils). #Have students try putting feathers in the different containers to demonstrate what it may feel like for animals to be covered in oil from oil spills. #Have students discuss how the different substances feel on the feathers. #Next have students put their hands in the different substances. #Now have students rub the substances on their forearms to get more of a first hand experience of the feeling for animals that are victims of oil spills. #Have students discuss this with one another. #Have students wash their hands and clean up any mess. Potential pitfalls *This activity has the potential to be very messy. Students may want to use smocks or aprons to keep the different oils off of their clothing. Math connections *The students could keep track of how long it takes to wash each substance off their hands and graph the results. *Students could also take a poll of which substance they thought felt the worst when all over their hands and graph the results. Literature connections Oliver and the Oil Spill by Aruna Chandrasekhar Oil Spills (Our Planet in Peril) by Jillian Powell Art Connection Students could demonstrate how oil spills affect animals and the environment through creative means. They could make diaramas, drawings or paintings expressing their knowledge and feelings about oils spills. Connections to educational standards 7.13 Students understand the characteristics of organisms, see patterns of similarity and differences among living organisms, understand the role of evolution, and recognize the interdependence of all systems that support life. This is evident when students: 7.13.d. Provide examples of change over time (e.g., extinction, changes in organisms) Adapted from MCS Grade 2 Science Curriculum: Values/Attitudes: gain and build respect for the enviroment. Next steps *Students could participate in a local habitat clean up. *This lesson could be part of a series of lessons on pollution and how pollution affects the environment. Citations and links *http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/elemlab.htm *Vermont Grade Expectations http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/pubs/framework.html *http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/14/g35/dawnducks.html